Oxfam ends Indian Ocean tsunami relief response

London, Dec 23 (ANI): Oxfam, the International charity, has decided to end its relief response to the people affected by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, four years after the disaster struck.

The tsunami caused chaos and devastation in countries around the Indian Ocean, killing 230,000 and leaving hundreds of thousands more injured or homeless.

According to a report in the Daily Express,Oxfam, which had received 155 million pounds in donations to help the affected people, has decided to end its emergency programme.

"We decided four years was the amount of time it would take to spend the money responsibly. Although this particular pot of money has been finished, if there is a need, we will start new programmes," said an Oxfam spokesman.

The money helped to assist 2.5 million people in seven tsunami-affected countries, including Sri Lanka and India.

It provided clean water and sanitation to people displaced by the disaster and allowed houses and schools to be rebuilt.

Barbara Stocking, chair of the Oxfam International Tsunami Fund Board, described the response to the tsunami as "astounding".

"The money we received allowed us not only to help meet the immediate emergency needs of tsunami-affected populations, but also to try to address the factors that made them vulnerable, not least poverty and a lack of influence over their own lives," she said.

"We have helped to give people better access to markets for their goods. We have helped them to gain the knowledge they need to protect themselves against future disasters and the confidence to demand a say in decisions that affect them," she added. (ANI)